The Hartville Trifecta

In the picture perfect town of Hartville, Ohio, located in Northern Stark County, there is a trifecta of attractions that can't be missed: The Hartville Marketplace, The Hartville Kitchen, and Hartville Hardware. All of these great establishments are in the same family company, and each is special and worthy of visiting for its own reasons.

I live not far from the city of Hartville, so I tend to take out-of-towners to visit one or all of these three great spots whenever they come to visit. While there's something for most everyone, I will admit that these are places that are most appealing to folks in my parents' or grandparents' generations (and, yes, I have brought my parents AND grandparents when they were in town).

Let's take a closer look at each of the three highlights of what I call "The Hartville Trifecta":

Photo by OHventures - Cornhole boards with my high school name & mascot!

The Hartville Marketplace
I could really go on and on about the Hartville Marketplace! It's part flea market, part mall, part grocery store, and part farmer's market. You'll find rows and rows of vendors selling everything from across the spectrum: odds & ends, knick knacks, collectibles, and trinkets can be found in one corner, while hand crafted items, one-of-a-kind artwork, and expensive furniture can be found in another.

There's aisles of locally made foods: candies, meats, cheeses, and produce, all made or grown in Ohio. In warmer months, you'll find an outdoor section with even more vendors, many of which are selling random fifty-cent items, or produce.

As if you can't tell already the vast selection of merchandise at the Hartville Marketplace, let me give you a sampling of a few things I've personally purchased there: a winter hat, bird seed, Amish cheese, and bed sheets. While I was there recently with some family members, my dad bought a wallet, my aunt bought a coffee maker, and my mom bought some pepperoni rolls.

Yes, that is how eclectic and interesting the Hartville Marketplace is! You can even take a break from shopping and have a meal at Sarah's Grille while you're there (that is, if you don't want to head over to the Hartville Kitchen, which is next on the list - read on)!

Photo by OHventures

Photo by Canton Repository (I ate my food too quick before I could take a photo of my own)!

The Hartville Kitchen
For down home cooking and a warm, inviting atmosphere, there is no where I would rather go than The Hartville Kitchen (second to my own mother's kitchen, of course). Serving up hot platefuls of comfort food for decades, the Hartville Kitchen is never without a long line throughout the building, with hungry patrons ready to be fed!

This is some of the most "Ohio" country cooking you will ever come by: chicken, meatloaf, turkey and stuffing, Swiss steak, fish, roast beef sandwiches and gravy, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and roast pork are just some of the specialties that will have your mouth watering. The salads are finely chopped, with a slew of tantalizing dressings to choose from. Thankfully, they sell their dressings by the bottle (and literally by the bucket) so you can slather it on your food at home! Their home baked rolls and soups of the day are to die for.

But what most people love about The Hartville Kitchen - if you save enough room after dinner - is their desserts! The pies are out of this world. Luckily, you can visit the bakery shop on your way out to take a pie home if you are too stuffed to indulge while you're there.

The best part is that the price is right! My grandparents have taken me here on several occasions, and we eat a feast for far less than a fortune!

Photo by Discover Hartville

Hartville Hardware
Why on earth would I be featuring a hardware store on OHventures? What could possibly be exciting about a hardware store? Well, Hartville Hardware is unlike any other hardware store you will encounter! I don't even own a home (yet, that is), and even I love going to this place!

Right when you walk inside Hartville Hardware, you'll see the giant model home (pictured above) in the dead center of the store. Walking inside is like entering one of the awesomely remodeled homes on HGTV! It's called "The Idea House" and it gives you some of coolest inspirations for ways you can remodel or spruce up your current or future home! I seriously have gotten so many great ideas and inspirations from visiting the Idea House (hidden pantries, secret lofts, and a top notch man cave, to name a few).

Other than the Idea House, the Hartville Hardware store has everything you would need to build, fix, install, create,or design almost anything in and around your house! The lower level is dedicated to lumber, windows, doors, and the like. Upstairs, you'll find everything from patio furniture to pet supplies! It's a great place to go for gifts, or to get all you need for that special project.

Hiking At Quail Hollow State Park

Photos by OHventures

Quail Hollow State Park
13480 Congress Lake Avenue
Hartville, OH 44632

Quail Hollow State Park is a multi-functional park that has a variety of trails (14 miles total) accessible to handicapped individuals and experienced hikers alike. There is also a designated horse trail (5 miles) and mountain bike trail (4 miles). 

I have taken readers to Quail Hollow to go sled riding and for a photo shoot. Now, I encourage you to go to this Stark County state park to go hiking! My good pals Greg and Matt joined me one crisp November morning to head out on an expedition to Quail Hollow. We knew the trails offered here are relatively short and are moderate in length, so it would be a light and non-demanding trip. We had a goal of making a 4-5 mile hike, which we predicted would take us 2-3 hours, with stops.

Driving into the park entrance, we parked at the trail head for the Sedge Marsh. This short 1/4 mile section of trail is made out of boardwalks. We completed that quick loop and then hiked the Meadowlands (1 mile), followed by the Beaver Lodge Trail (1.5 miles). We accidentally happened upon a portion of the bridle trails, which I do not recommend (there were a lot of "land mines" along the way that didn't make for a great hike). When all was said and done, we met our goal by hiking 4.4 miles in 2.5 hours.

During our hike, we actually stumbled upon a geocache! This was really neat, since I had never seen one before, and especially neat since we weren't even trying to locate it using GPS, like those who participate in geocaching.

One of my favorite aspects of the park is the herb gardens and the Carriage House Nature Preserve, which has educational exhibits and interactive elements. It's a beautiful old house that the Tall-Grass Prairie Trail wraps around. In addition to hiking, biking, geocaching, sledding, and horseback riding, other activities at Quail Hollow include: fishing, camping, picnicking, cross country skiing, volleyball, basketball, and special events.

Peace, Love, & Little Donuts

Photo by OHventures

Peace, Love, and Little Donuts

115 S. Prospect Ave.

Hartville, OH 44632

(330) 877-3043

(and additional Ohio locations)

While driving through the City of Hartville in Stark County one day, I happened across a small and colorful bakery that caught my eye with its tie-dye and peace symbols on the storefront. The name of the confectionery was Peace, Love, and Little Donuts - and with a name like that, it's hard to pass by without stopping in!

Talk about a place that is adventurous with its flavors! Inside this tiny donut shop were tiny little donuts in a not-so-tiny display case full of sugary goodness. It was sensory overload, with the rainbow of sprinkles, and the sweet aroma of chocolate, cinnamon, and other delights. My friends and I were flabbergasted by the impressive selection of traditional and obscure flavors and varieties.

As if the name of the joint didn't give it away, a bit of a hippie theme was going on, as evidenced by the donut categories: Groovy, Far Out, and Funkadelic.

Groovy Donuts included any donut topped with cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon, honey, or maple sugar. Far Out Donuts are donuts with "far out" frosting, including vanilla, chocolate, maple, raspberry, strawberry, orange, banana, lemon, and mocha. 

Funkadelic Donuts are the ones that get the most attention, as they have "far out" frosting along with fun and exciting toppings that you'd be hardpressed to find at any other donut shop: Oreos, coconut, pretzels, marshmallows & graham cracker (s'mores), maple bacon, salted chocolate, M&Ms, Nestle Crunch, apple pie, blueberry French toast, strawberry shortcake, samoa, and the list goes on (and on and on)!

Each of us ordered a half dozen little itty bitty donuts to gorge on. Mine are all shown above, with the stand-out flavor being the Funkadelic Fruity Pebbles donut! That one definitely wins the award for most bizarre (but bizarre in a good way, of course).

Peace, Love, and Little Donuts is not just in Hartville. There are 4 other Ohio locations: Massillon, Canal Fulton, North Canton, and Cleveland. There are also 6 in Pittsburgh (where it started), one in Grove City, Pennsylvania, one in Oregon, and one in Florida. So, while it's not entirely exclusive to Ohio, we are definitely fortunate that this wild and adventurous bakery has a large presence in Stark and Cuyahoga Counties!

Ohio-fy Your Life

Photos by OHventures

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being so devoted that you'd get an Ohio tattoo (I am considering it), how hardcore of an Ohio fan are you? We aren't talking Ohio State football (although we are big-time Buckeyes fans), or Ohio University (although Athens is one of the coolest college towns around), but we are talking the entire state of Ohio.

If you are a tried and true lover of this great state, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, from Ashtabula to Cincinnati, then here are some products that you can get to Ohio-fy Your Life. And, yes, all of these are in my house!

1. Ohio Thread Art: Pictured at the beginning of this post, this thread art in the shape of Ohio is hanging proudly in my bedroom. Made by a friend at Threaded State (based in Cincinnati), you too can get a customized piece of Ohio thread art. Choose your color, your design, and whether or not you want to highlight a special city! You can also learn to make your own.

2. Milk Chocolate Ohio: Okay, so this was in my house, before I devoured it. Just in time for Easter (or whatever the closest holiday is at the time you are reading this), I purchased this tasty milk chocolate shaped like Ohio from Hartville Chocolate Factory in Stark County. You can also get loads of other goodies, such as chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate dipped Oreos, which are not shaped like Ohio, but taste pretty awesome nonetheless.

3. Ohio BibFolio: If you are a runner, and you live in Ohio (or do a lot of races in Ohio), then this handy dandy contraption is for you. It's called a "BibFolio," and it holds all of your race number bibs inside! Since I have dozens and dozens of bibs from races, this was a no-brainer. You can get a ton of different designs, but how can you pass up the RUN OHIO design?!

4. Ohio Ink Art: This Ohio ink art was special made for OHventures by our pal Matt of MATTHEWDYEstudio in Canton. Browse his site to see what artwork he has on sale. Odds are, there are some Ohio pieces available - or, if not, he would be willing to whip one up for you! Tell him I sent ya.

5. Ohio Cutting Board: I am quite the chef these days (don't believe me, then stop over for some award winning chili or my specialty shrimp & cheesy grits). So, a trusty bamboo cutting board in the shape of Ohio is a dream for me. Pictured, you can see I had a little fun and added some cut carrots on my three "homes" of Columbus, Akron/Canton, and Youngstown (Hubbard). This find was thanks to the Totally Bamboo brand sold at Bed Bath & Beyond.

6. Ohio Pocket T-Shirt: This is one of my favorite Ohio-themed items I own (can't you tell by the goofy face I am making while modeling it in the picture above?). The reason I love it so much is because of the story it tells. This shirt is from a new grassroots company in Akron called Neighbors Apparel. All shirts and accessories are made by refugee women living in Akron. Plus, a portion of the profits goes towards giving these refugee women a living wage, and some is donated to help Urban Vision, an inner-city mission in Akron. Become a neighbor today by getting one of these shirts!

7. Rubber City Golf Balls: And while we are in Akron, we may as well put a plug in for Rubber City Clothing, which sells, among other things, these golf balls donning - what else? - the shape of the state of Ohio! It's on my bucket list to hit the links and become a better golfer, so perhaps these balls will be good luck? If not, there's always other great Ohio-themed clothing and items at Rubber City Clothing as well!

8. #OHIO T-Shirt: Ah, yes. I couldn't ever pass up a shirt such as this. It incorporates a hashtag AND Ohio's historical year of settlement? The irony! The cheekiness! The Ohio-ness! I can't even. I got this gem at the Ohio-themed boutique in downtown Columbus called State & Third (found at the Shops on Capital Square). The vendor of the shirt is Lamp Apparel.

Stay tuned for more ways to Ohio-fy Your Life! Have items to add to our Ohio collection, send us an email to let us know!

Maize Valley Market & Winery

Photos by OHventures

Maize Valley Market & Winery

6193 Edison St NE
Hartville, OH 44632

(330) 877-8344

On my quest to visit 10 new wineries in 2014, I thought it most appropriate to find the closest winery to my home and travel there first! That winery happens to be Maize Valley Market & Winery, located in Hartville in Stark County. I traveled here on a whim (the best time to go on any adventure) one cold, Friday night in January. I was unsure of what to expect, but found that the place was certainly a hotspot!

Live music could be heard playing right when I walked in to the establishment. In front of me was an array of produce (all grown locally) and retail racks full of wine bottles (all made locally, of course). This definitely screamed out as being equally a market AND a winery! As I traveled through what felt like a grocery store, I soon found myself right where I needed to be: the bar!

The bar sits in an original barn from the 1860s with sandstone walls and wood beams on the ceiliings. The bar area had a number of patrons wining and dining at tables throughout an open area, where the live music was set up. Like all of my wine excursions, I opted to do a sampling session of various wines in order to get a good overview of what kind of place I was visiting (and at 25 cents per taste, you can't not do that)!

First on the list for me - due to its hilarious name alone - was the "Big Red Pecker." How can you not giggle when you hear that name? Nonsense aside, it was a great wine - a dry red. Most of the wines were very sweet, which isn't quite my style, so I took a quick liking to the Big Red Pecker (wow, that sounds pretty bad if you take that in the wrong context). The most popular wine - a sweet concord wine - also had a funny name: Redneck Red, which tasted just like a fresh picked grape! 

Some of the bottles on the shelves jumped out at me as well because of their designs: Mad Cow, a white wine which has black and white cow-spots on the bottle, for instance. There was also a wine available that had a pink ribbon on the bottle, due to the fact that the proceeds go toward breast cancer research (a cause that I can definitely get behind).

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In the food department, you can find freshly made pies, cookies, and bread all baked on site. And you can choose from a wide variety of tasty entrees, including roast beef sandwiches and tasty quinoa, for starters.  

And if you want to have some fun that goes above and beyond wine and music, Maize Valley is a great spot to do so! There are tons of seasonal events that are fun for the whole family: wagon rides, corn mazes, pig races, and MORE! You have to come out to Maize Valley. And if you do, make sure you message me because I don't live far! 

Sledding In Ohio

Photos by OHventures

Depending on where you are from, you either call it sledding or sledriding. You might even call it toboggoning. Either way, the thought of flying downhill on a sled will most definitely bring back childhood memories. But this activity is not for children only! It's intense, thrilling, and downright adrenaline-pumping. IF you find the right hills, that is! We used to go sledriding (that's what we called it) at my Aunt & Uncle's house in their backyard, where they had a pretty gnarly hill to zoom down. But there are plenty of other hills around the state that are sledriding hotspots, many of which located at state parks.

You can find a list of state parks with great hills thanks to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Of course, OHventures was looking to plan a couple of sledding trips this winter,and we picked the nearby Quail Hollow State Park as our destination of choice. My friend Kyla came along for the ride. Even in the bitter cold of the polar vortex in Ohio, we were bound and determined to conquer some hills! 

While the scenery at Quail Hollow was nothing short of spectacular, we couldn't seem to find the sledding hills. So, we asked one of the many cross country skiers in the vicinity if they knew of any hills. Our efforts were yet again fruitless so we entered the visitor's center at the Manor House to ask the park officials. They pointed to the hills that were right outside the window, which were really not much of a sight to see. Despite the measly looking hill, Kyla and I decided to have at it! The park officials insisted that many people use the hill, even if it didn't look too massive! 

Our sledding experience was nothing short of hilarious! I don't think there was a single moment that I was not  smiling from ear to ear! Even without the highest quality of sleds (do yourself a favor and don't wait until the middle of winter when all the sleds have been bought out - I had to buy cheaply made sleds from Target that were sufficient but not preferred), we managed to get some decent speed on the decent hill at Quail Hollow!

The worst part of sledding is of course the long trek back up the hill you zoomed down. It takes you four or five times longer to get back up the hill you sped down! After racing down the hill and trying different techniques, Kyla and I were ready for a challenge. We had a tip from a friend to try out a different hill in nearby Canton: Tam O’Shanter Golf Course Sledding Hill located at 5055 Hills and Dales Road NW.

This hill was a MONSTER! Unfortunately, photos do not do it justice, as it is hard to photograph a hill when it's covered in snow. But this thing was 10 times steeper than the last and made for some extreme thrills! We had an epic time flying down this mountain - even tumbling and barrel-rolling off of our sleds! It was worth it!

Sledding is definitely be an adult sport again - we will just leave the snowman-building to the kiddos. See below some links so you can find some great hills nearest you!

Best Sled Riding in Stark County

Top Sled Riding Hills near Akron

Best Places to Go Sled Riding in Ohio (USA Today)

Top Places for Sledding in Cincinnati

Best Dayton Sledding Locations

Where to Go Sled Riding in the Toledo Area

Best Sled Riding Hills in Northeast Ohio

Where to Find Sled Riding in Cleveland

Best Sledding Spots in Ohio